♪♪ -"Cook's Country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table.

We're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes.

We go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook.

And we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.

We bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you.

This is "Cook's Country."

♪♪ Today on "Cook's Country," Ashley makes double chocolate banana bread.

I share the story of how bananas took America by storm.

Hannah reviews cold brew coffee makers, and Christie makes chocolate brownie cookies for Bridget.

That's all right here on "Cook's Country."

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast.

With a lineup of gas grills designed with durability in mind, including the Eminence 605 with LED touch panels and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at MonumentGrills.com.

♪♪ -Today, Ashley's gonna take banana bread a step further and show us how to make chocolate banana bread.

-That's right, and not just any chocolate banana bread.

I'm gonna show you how to make a double chocolate banana bread.

-"Dooblay" chocolate?

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

-And it's not gonna be too sweet, and it's gonna be just as tender and moist as the most amazing banana bread you've ever had.

-Okay.

-Now, for banana bread, obviously it's all about the banana.

-Mm-hmm.

-But this banana is not ripe enough.

-Not yet.

-You see a few speckles, but we want really ripened bananas, almost black bananas.

-Yeah.

-So if you don't have overly ripe bananas, all you have to do is put the bananas in a 325-degree oven for just 20 minutes.

-Huh.

-And what you're gonna get... -That's what that is.

-...are these.

Yes.

-Interesting.

-Mm-hmm.

-That's kind of cool, 'cause now you can make banana bread anytime.

You don't have to wait for that magic moment when you have four overly ripe bananas.

-Yes, exactly.

So, first thing I need to do is I need to mash some bananas.

I'm just going to peel them.

-I'm curious to see what the inside looks like knowing that they've been roasted.

-Mm-hmm.

-Oh, yeah.

Look how soft they are.

-Yeah.

Alright.

And I'll just continue with the rest of these.

Alright.

So now I'm gonna mash these bananas, and I'm going to be looking for a total cup amount of 2 cups of the mashed bananas.

Alright, so let's see how close I am.

Alright.

2 cups.

Alright, so I'll add that right there.

So now we've got some more wet ingredients.

I have 1 cup of packed dark brown sugar, and here we have 10 tablespoons of melted and cooled unsalted butter, and then, finally, two whole eggs.

I'm just gonna whisk until thoroughly combined, and there may be a few lumps in there, but -- -Banana lumps.

-Exactly.

Now we've got our dry ingredients.

Here I have 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, and then I have 1/4 cup of cocoa powder.

-That looks like Dutch processed.

-Yes, yep, it's Dutch processed, and it's gonna give us a great overall cocoa powder, but it's not gonna give us the full chocolate potential that I'm looking for.

-[ Laughs ] -1 1/4 teaspoons of baking soda.

Just gonna add that right in here.

Give it a nice whisk.

And then, finally, 3/4 teaspoon of salt.

I'm gonna add our dry to the wet and just whisk until combined.

Again, a few lumps are A-okay.

Alright.

And now I have 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate.

-Yum.

-So it's not gonna add a ton of extra sweetness.

We really want to control that here with the banana bread.

And this is gonna give us really amazing pockets of chocolate.

Oh, it's so good.

Now I have a loaf pan, 8 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches.

I went ahead and sprayed it with some vegetable oil spray.

And it's on this rimmed baking sheet just simply for insurance, just because it is gonna be quite full.

In case it wants to bubble over, I don't have to clean my oven.

I just have to clean my baking sheet.

And finally, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.

-Mm-hmm.

-And this is gonna go just over-top.

It's gonna give that really shiny, crispy, shellac-y sheen.

Alright.

We are ready to go into the oven.

The oven's been preheated at 350 degrees with the oven rack at the middle position.

And it's gonna bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

-Okay.

-Bananas are the most popular fruit in the United States, which, dare I say, is a little bananas, since there was a time when bananas didn't exist in North America.

Starting in the 1880s, bananas were imported from tropical southern regions like the Caribbean, but they were expensive.

In time, improvements in shipping helped get more of the fruit to U.S.

markets.

Banana prices dropped.

Cookbooks celebrated the "exotic" fruit, publishing recipes for fried bananas, baked bananas, stewed bananas, banana pudding, and banana cake.

A clever marketing campaign promoted bananas as a health food, even going so far as to claim that they treated certain illnesses, like tuberculosis and celiac disease.

And while that marketing angle didn't last, promoting recipes with bananas as the main ingredient did.

By the 1930s, recipes for banana bread were appearing everywhere.

Fast forward to today, where we at "Cook's Country" have joined the chorus, singing the praises of bananas.

We add a double dose of chocolate to make our banana bread extra special.

-[ Gasps ] -Oh.

-Smells so delicious.

Alright.

-Ooh.

-So, I want to check for done-ness, and I'll know that it's done if a toothpick comes out clean.

-Okay.

-Perfect.

-Alright.

-Alright.

And now I'm gonna leave the banana bread in the pan to cool for about 30 minutes.

-Okay.

-Alright.

It's been 30 minutes, so I'm just gonna tilt the pan here, which will help it come on out of the pan.

-Alright.

The un-molding.

-The un-molding.

Oh, that's perfect.

So now I'm gonna leave this to cool for 30 more minutes, and then it's gonna be time to taste.

-Okay.

-Alright.

Let's slice in.

-Mm-hmm.

-Do you want an end piece or an interior piece?

-No, I think I want an interior piece.

-Alright.

-Ooh, I like how you cut them on the big side.

You're not messing around.

-Mnh-mnh.

-Serves two.

-Trust me, you're gonna want a real big piece.

-Oh, it smells chocolaty.

-Mm-hmm.

-But can you smell the banana?

-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah.

-And you can see some of the pieces of banana.

I love that.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

-I'm going for the middle.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm.

-Mmm!

-Mmm.

-That's a really good combination.

-Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

-You can taste the chocolate.

-Mm-hmm.

-You can taste the banana.

It's moist.

It's right on the edge of cake, but it's still decidedly a bread.

-But it's not too sweet.

-Mnh-mnh.

-This is so good.

And the chopped chocolate in there?

-Mm-hmm.

And I love the crystalline on top.

-Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Tender, moist, not too sweet.

-Mm-hmm.

-Hit all the marks here.

-Ashley, this is fantastic.

Thank you.

-Oh, you're welcome.

-If you want to take your banana bread to the next level, mash very ripe bananas for a total of 2 cups.

Stir Dutch processed cocoa and chopped bittersweet chocolate into the batter.

And after it's baked, let the bread cool in the pan for 30 minutes.

From "Cook's Country," a killer recipe for double chocolate banana bread.

Killer.

-Kill-er.

-I love it.

-So good.

Mmm.

-The cold brew coffee industry is valued at more than $4 billion.

And that means that a lot of you like your joe on the chilly side.

So can you save some money by making it at home?

Let's call in Hannah, and she's here to tell us all about these cold brew systems.

-Yes.

Cold brew is everywhere these days.

It's known for being smoother and less acidic than hot coffee, which I really appreciate.

-Right.

-To make cold brew, you steep coarsely ground coffee grounds in water for 12 to 24 hours, so it's a long time.

Then you want to press, remove the grinds, and you have a concentrate left behind.

You can either drink it straight if you really want rocket fuel.

You can add water back.

You can even heat it up, and it keeps for a week in the fridge.

So it's kind of a messy process, but once you do that initial making, you can actually have it to sip on for seven days or more.

And cold brew coffee is expensive, for good reason.

You're using a higher ratio of grounds.

I actually paid $7.75 for 1 cup this morning.

-1 cup?

-1 cup.

-Not 1 gallon?

-No, 1 cup.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

-Bring on the machines.

-Exactly.

So, we actually did the math, and we calculated it costs about $2 to make 1 cup with our cold brew recipe at home.

So if you like cold brew, investing in a machine could, "could," save you money.

We tested 10, and I say "could" because some of these are a complete waste of money.

So let's get into it.

-Alright.

-They were priced from $20 to $80, and we found three styles.

I want to walk over here first.

Let's talk about electric.

-Right.

These look fancy.

-They look fancy.

Electric sounds fancy.

You know, they're all shiny.

Like I said, cold brew takes 12 to 24 hours.

So some people say, "No, no.

Let's try to do it in five minutes, with a centrifuge.

We're gonna spin the grounds and water very quickly to accelerate the process."

What do you think?

Sounds good, right?

-I think that everyone knows that things done really quickly are always better.

No.

No one said that, ever.

-You're onto something there.

Here, come right over here.

I just want to show you two samples here.

-Okay.

-So, one of these was made in an electric cold brew machine, and the other was made with the classic long-wait cold brew.

-Right.

I'm guessing this is the long wait.

And this looks like you dredged the Charles.

-Yes.

You think it looks bad now?

Let me show you what's actually inside.

-Murky.

-Check that out.

That'd be your last sip.

Did you ever get a last sip like that?

You get hit with that?

-Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

It's like a meal at the bottom of the cup.

You do not want that.

But look, I mean, even the color without the grounds, this one just looks so much more robust and well developed.

This one looks light and kind of weak.

-Yeah, unfortunately, the electric models produced the worst of both worlds.

They spun only for five minutes, so they didn't extract enough flavor, but they were able to spin out grittiness and oils, so it was weak and gritty.

-Jeez.

Okay.

-No bueno.

Let's -- Let's stop talking about these.

-Right.

-Alright.

Come over here to our next style.

These are basket style.

Have you ever seen, like, an iced tea machine that looks like this?

-Yeah, a little infuser in there?

-Exactly.

So, you put the grounds... in here.

-Mm-hmm.

-Once the time has elapsed -- And again, these are slow, old-school cold brew makers.

They're gonna take overnight.

Once the time has elapsed, you pull this out.

The grounds come along with it, and then you have your brew left in the bottom there, and this container can be stored in the fridge.

What we didn't like about these was there just wasn't enough room for the coffee grounds to circulate with the water.

We had to get in there and stir, which was like, you practically need tweezers to do it precisely.

-Right.

A swizzle stick.

-Exactly, exactly.

And even once we did that, with some of these, there was dry coffee left.

-Oh, no.

-No.

-So you need more room, more circulation.

-More room, more circulation.

Dry coffee is bad for flavor, and it's just a waste.

-Yeah.

-So these were, like, fine, workable, not our favorite.

Alright, now let's go down to the draw down style.

This is our third style, the draw down style.

They have a bucket on top with a series of filters in it and a carafe that you drain into down below.

-Okay.

-So, pretend this has been brewing overnight.

There's grounds.

There's water.

This thing is full.

-Alright.

-Can you go ahead and try to put it on its carafe first?

-Alright.

So I've got to get this over here without spilling any?

-There's a plug on the bottom, so you need to take that out and get it on there.

And you'll notice this is quite tall and narrow.

-Yeah, that -- that would not be good.

That would just not be good at all.

-No, no.

-I mean, tiny, narrow top.

Feels like it's gonna fall over.

This is heavy.

-It's all light.

Like, it's plastic.

And this fell over during testing.

-I can see why.

-Yeah, it's top-heavy.

It's tall.

It's narrow.

It's awkward.

It's a disaster waiting to happen.

-And I don't need more awkward in my life.

I can tell you that.

-No.

You're awkward enough.

I know this, too.

Now let's move down -- [ Laughs ] -She knows me so well.

-Let's talk about the Toddy.

So, this was our winner right here.

And I want you to do the same thing.

-Alright.

-Let's pretend.

Let's go -- another game of make-believe.

Pretend this is full of coffee and grounds, and you're ready to drain.

Compare how this one feels.

I mean, look at the opening.

-You don't need to try it.

-No.

On the jar.

But, I mean, this -- Well, this already feels like it's not gonna fall apart.

And the fact that it's larger, just a lot easier.

-Toddy is a big name in the cold brew world.

This was our overall winner.

It had fewer parts to keep track of.

It had two filters, which is another thing we found.

Two filters was really important.

If the manual ones did not have two filters, the coffee was silty.

-Right.

-So our winner from Toddy, two filters, streamlined compact design.

Once your coffee is brewed, this goes right there, and that gets stored in the fridge.

-How lovely is that?

-It's downright cute, isn't it?

-For up to a week.

-For up to a week.

Exactly.

-There you go.

You saved my sanity, you saved my time, and you saved me some money.

So thank you very much.

-Just invite me over for coffee.

-I definitely will.

So, if you want to pick up the winner, it's the Toddy Cold Brew System, and it runs about $60.

Let's talk about culinary portmanteaus.

That's a word that's created from the parts of two other words.

Well, you have brunch.

That's pretty standard.

And more recently, there's cronut.

But what about the brookie?

A brookie is a combination of a brownie and a cookie, and it should be the best of all worlds.

At least that's what I've been promised.

But here is Christie.

She's gonna show us how to make a chocolate brownie cookie that's going to end all brookies.

-[ Laughs ] Well, we had to start by thinking about our favorite brownie.

-Right.

-It blends the perfect amount of sweetness and really intense chocolate.

It's rich and chewy, kind of fudgy and dense, and it has that shiny, crackly top.

-Okay.

Check.

-Yes.

Now imagine for me a situation where you have that shiny, crackly top that surrounds the entire brownie.

-Okay.

Got it.

-Yeah.

That's where we're going.

-Alright, I'm on board.

-Okay.

-I'm on the train.

-[ Laughs ] Well, let's start with our dry ingredients.

I have 1 cup of all-purpose flour.

I'm adding 1/4 cup of Dutch processed cocoa, which is 3/4 ounce.

-Okay.

-Now, that's gonna give us a really clean, bright chocolate flavor.

-Mm.

-And it also gives us that really dark color.

-Yes.

Necessary.

-Absolutely.

Now, I'm using a mix of leaveners.

I have 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and I'm also using 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, which is gonna help to control the spread.

-Mm-hmm.

-But it's also gonna help give us a little lift before the cookies settle and crackle.

I'm also adding 3/4 teaspoon of salt, which is a decent amount of salt, but we really want to lean into that bright chocolate flavor.

-Okay.

-We'll just give this a whisk.

Okay.

Moving on... -Alright.

-...our chocolate journey, we're gonna double down on chocolate.

-So not just the cocoa?

-No.

No.

We're also gonna add 10 ounces of bittersweet chocolate.

-You're going whole hog here.

-Totally.

-Alright.

-But we're doing it in two different stages.

So, I have 4 ounces here.

This is one bar.

And I'm gonna chop this.

I do like to use a serrated knife.

And we're just gonna do a chop, so it doesn't have to be super fine, because these are gonna be chunks left in the cookie.

-Oh, so this is the cookie part like a chocolate chip cookie.

You want the chocolate chunks.

-Right, and some of them are gonna melt, and others are going to leave just a little trace.

So you see it's just a chop.

-Love it.

-We don't have to completely obliterate it.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now, I have 6 ounces here that I've already chopped.

But this, we're going to melt.

-Okay.

Still bittersweet?

-Yes.

We're using a mix of fats here.

I have 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and I'm also adding 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter.

And it's that mix of saturated and unsaturated fats that are gonna give us that really nice, chewy texture.

-Gorgeous.

-We're gonna microwave this for about 3 minutes at 50% power, and I'll go in halfway and stir it.

[ Microwave beeps ] -Okay.

[ Microwave beeps ] -So we're on our way.

-It's always a good idea to stir it every once in a while, 'cause chocolate does not look like it's fully melted sometimes when it actually is.

-Totally.

[ Microwave beeping ] Okay.

We can still see some chunks, but I know that as soon as we start stirring, we're gonna be good.

-Okay.

-Like magic.

-Melts away.

-So we just want to work out any final pieces of chocolate.

That looks good.

-That looks lovely.

-Why, thank you.

-[ Chuckles ] -I work really hard at melting my chocolate.

-Yeah, you do.

-Now we want to cool this down a little bit before we eventually add our eggs.

So I'm gonna add 2 tablespoons of whole milk.

-Okay.

And you're able to get away with that without it seizing up because you had the fat already in there.

-Right.

Look how nice and smooth that is now.

Perfect.

-Mm-mm-mmm.

Where's the ice cream?

Let's just pour it over and be done.

-Okay.

So, this is all set.

Now the final thing we have to do is mix our eggs that I mentioned... -Mm-hmm.

-...with some sugar.

So I have 1 cup of granulated sugar in here.

And that's really important for this recipe, because it's the granulated sugar that's gonna give us that shiny, crackly top.

-Okay.

Not powdered?

Don't want to use powdered?

Okay.

-Not -- No, not powdered.

But as opposed to brown sugar that gives really nice flavor, it's not gonna help with that shiny top.

-Okay.

-So, I have two large eggs.

So, we're gonna mix this on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes.

What we're looking for is for this mixture to get nice and thick... -Mm.

-...and to develop kind of a pastel yellow color.

-Gorgeous.

Lovely, puffy.

-Well, thank you.

That's what we're looking for.

-It's pretty close to ribbon stage there.

-It really is.

It's nice and thick, super pale.

And that just means that the sugar has dissolved into the eggs, and so we're gonna have that nice, shiny top.

-Alright.

Gorgeous.

-Now we're all done with the stand mixer.

-Okay, great.

-And I'm going to first add my chocolate mixture to the eggs and sugar.

-Alright.

The melted chocolate.

Yes.

-The melted chocolate.

So, we're gonna whisk this in.

Make sure that we have a nice, homogeneous mixture.

Okay.

This looks nice and smooth.

-Mm.

-We're not seeing any white streaks.

I'm gonna switch over to the spatula now, because I need to fold the dry ingredients into the wet.

-Right.

-And we're gonna add the dry mixture.

-This is where we want to prevent a lot of gluten from forming.

-Right.

So the fewer strokes needed, the better.

Okay.

This looks good.

I don't see any dry bits left.

I'm gonna make sure, especially around the bottom.

So now we're gonna fold in those chocolate bits that we left.

-Fantastic.

-So we'll fold those in.

It's getting a little thick now.

Okay, this looks good.

I think we have good mix of chocolate in there.

-Properly dispersed.

-To form the cookies, we're gonna use either a tablespoon measuring spoon... -Okay.

-...or you can use a number 30 scoop, which is really perfect, because a leveled-off scoop will give you exactly 20 cookies.

If you're using a tablespoon measure, which is fine, you want to do a heaping tablespoon.

-Okay.

-And that can just be a little more subjective.

-Yes.

One person's heaping is another person's second cookie.

-It's a very forgiving batter, though.

So if you need to kind of, you know -- -Steal.

-Exactly.

You can do that later.

Either way, though, you want to make sure that you spray your measuring spoon or the scoop with some vegetable oil spray before you start.

-Okay.

-It'll just make it a lot easier to release the cookies.

-Love it.

-So, we'll batter up.

-Nice.

-Alright.

I'm gonna do 10 cookies per sheet.

So to my ordered mind, I'll do a row of three, a row of four, and then another row of three.

And then we'll do the second sheet of cookies, which will give us a total of 20.

Last scoop.

Alright, so we have to bake these now.

I have my oven set up, upper middle and lower middle racks.

-Okay.

-These are both gonna go in at the same time.

-Oh, that's great.

-And the oven is heated to 300 degrees.

So we're gonna bake these until they get a little puffy and we see some big cracks starting to form.

It's gonna take about 16 minutes.

-Mm.

-But we'll go in halfway and switch and rotate the sheets.

-Alright.

Switch at 8.

-Yes.

-Okay.

I'll get the door.

-Thank you.

Oh, Bridget.

-[ Gasps ] -We got cookies.

-Yeah, we do.

-[ Laughs ] Wow.

-Oh, my goodness.

-These are perfect.

So you can see that we've got puff.

-Yes.

-We have some big cracks.

And you can see it looks a little bit raw in the cracks.

-Right.

Right.

-That's okay.

It's fine.

These are gonna continue to firm up as they cool.

And we have to let them cool on the sheet pans for 30 minutes anyway.

Are you ready?

-I'm so ready.

And I'm seeing a spatula, so I know it's been 30 minutes.

-It has been 30 minutes.

You want to use a nice, thin spatula.

-Mm.

-Oh-oh.

-I see crackly, shiny top.

-Mm-hmm.

-[ Gasps ] -There we go.

-It's so lonely.

Oh, thank you.

-Did you really think I was only gonna give you one?

-Look at that.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Beautiful.

-And do you see the little bits of chocolate in there?

-I do.

-Still just glistening?

-Oh, yeah.

Definitely can see some there.

Mmm.

I got a hit of a chocolate pocket.

-Mm-hmm.

-"Chocolate pocket," trademarked right now by me.

-[ Laughs ] -Mmm.

That's big flavor.

-And the outside, it's got the little crispness, but it also has some chew.

-Mm-hmm.

But they're melting.

-Mm-hmm.

-As soon as I can put them in my mouth, just starting to melt.

And they're so super tender.

-Mm-hmm.

-Christie, thank you so much for bringing us this fantastic baked cookie brownie.

-Thank you.

-And if you want to bake these, and you know you do, use both baking powder and baking soda for a crackling top, add a combination of vegetable oil and butter for moist, brownie-like texture, and use Dutch processed cocoa and melted bittersweet chocolate in the batter, then stir in chocolate chunks before baking.

So, from "Cook's Country," the dessert that proves you can have it all, chocolate brownie cookies.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes.

And those are all on our website, CooksCountry.com/TV.

Now, the only way I could see making these better is, like, ice cream between two of them.

-Ooh.

-Let us help with dinner tonight.

Visit our website anytime for the newest season's rigorously tested recipes, full episodes, ingredient advice, and equipment reviews.

CooksCountry.com/TV.

-"The Complete Cook's Country TV Show Cookbook" brings together every recipe, tasting, and test from 18 seasons of the beloved TV show, with trusted equipment recommendations and insights from the entire cast.

This book is your guide to the very best in regional cooking.

The cost is $24.99, $15 off the cover price of $40.

To order, head to our online shop at CooksCountry.com/book.

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills, offering innovative technology and design for the grilling enthusiast, with a lineup of gas grills designed with durability in mind, including the Eminence 605 with LED touch panels and side and rear infrared burners.

Learn more at MonumentGrills.com.

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